Having sat through four public meetings held by the Jackson County School System about plans to make better use of its facilities, there were a lot of misconceptions and misunderstandings. Here’s a Q&A synopsis in plain English of the key issues in this debate.

Q. Why is the system trying to close some facilities and move students around?

A. In a word, money. The system, like many Georgia school systems, is facing a financial crisis. The JCSS will spend $4 million more this year than it will get in revenues. Making up that shortfall this year will eat up most of the system’s remaining reserves. It cannot repeat that scenario next fiscal year, which begins July 1.

Q. So how does the current proposal help that?

A. The proposal isn’t THE answer to the problem, but it is one part. Currently, the system spends far above average in overhead and school administrative expenses. The reason for that is the JCSS is operating too many school buildings with too many administrators for too few students. Mothballing SJES and the Gordon Street Center will save about $1 million in overhead and administrative expenses next year.

Q. But why doesn’t the system slow down and study this more before doing anything? What’s the rush?

A. There isn’t time. Teacher and administrative contracts have to go out in a few weeks and that can’t be done until the system decides how many school buildings it will operate. In addition, it takes time to plan for the changes in the plans. On top of that, the system has to adopt a budget in June and it can’t do that until it ties down these expenses. There is no time left.

Q. But doing some of this goes against some of the ways things have been done in the past; is this really what is best for the children?

A. It is a change from past practices, but the system is broke and can’t afford to continue to operate the way it has in the past. Is it better to try and do something now, or wait until the system crashes financially and there has to be massive layoffs of teachers? Isn’t it better for students to try and do something before that happens?

Q. I don’t like 8th Graders in the high school setting — isn’t that dangerous?

A. It was common until the 1980s for 8th Graders to go into high schools. There is a perception that middle schools are somehow “safer” than high schools, but that isn’t always the case. The fear of 8th Graders in a high school setting is mostly overblown and being driven by emotion.

Q. But isn’t all of this a lot of upheaval for students?

A. Students face upheaval every year; they change teachers and grades and coursework and every few years, they go to a different building. Students adapt — what building they take class in is less important than what they’re being taught and the quality of their teacher. One part of education is learning to adapt to changes because childhood is all about change. It’s the adults, parents and teachers, who don’t like change and don’t adapt very well. This really isn’t upheaval, it’s just a part of life.

Q. I live on the East side and it seem like we’re being picked on to solve the overcrowding problems on the West side; why not just bus those students to East schools?

This issue isn’t an East vs. West issue. The financial issues, if left unresolved, will impact every student, parent, teacher and taxpayer in the county no matter where you live. And the answer isn’t as simple as just bussing students from West to East. The logistics and distances involved make that untenable. The reality is, both sides have issues. The West side has overcrowding while the East side has underused facilities. The system can’t save any money on the West side because it can’t close any facilities. It’s the East side that has been overbuilt and where savings can be realized by better use of facilities. That’s just the way it is.

Q. But won’t adding a wing onto WJIS just make the budget problem worse?

A. No because we’re talking about two different pots of money. The wing will be paid for by SPLOST funds while the financial crisis the system faces is in its operations budget, known as the General Fund. SPLOST money can’t be used to pay for salaries and day-to-day expenses; it’s only for capital expenses, such as new facilities. The building of a new wing won’t come out of the General Fund.

Q. Isn’t the financial issue just a fear tactic being manipulated by system leaders to scare people into doing this?

A. The numbers don’t lie. The system is facing a huge financial problem. You remember that in 2010, the system had a financial crash because it waited too late to cut costs and was $1 million in the hole. It can’t do that again. If anything, system leaders are understating the depth of the financial problem. It’s real and it’s big and it can’t be ignored.

Q. But won’t the absorption process of not replacing people who leave solve the problem?

A. Unfortunately, it won’t. The system has saved $1.2 million this year by not replacing non-teaching staff who leave, retire, etc. But absorption is a slow process and at some point soon, will plateau — the system can’t just absorb every job that’s empty forever. In addition, system officials have no control over how fast the absorption process takes place and they need to act quickly. It’s just not enough savings happening fast enough.

Q. So what is the core of the financial problem?

A. The immediate problem is the continued cutting of state funds and the collapse of the local property tax digest. School officials didn’t expect the digest to go down very much last fall, but it went down 10 percent. That took $3 million away from the system overnight. In the bigger picture, the JCSS has traditionally been spending too much per student for many years. Last year, its per pupil spending was among the highest in NE Georgia. The combination of too much spending and falling revenues has led to this crunch.

Q. OK, so what are the numbers we’re really talking about? Just what does the system face specifically?

A. To answer that requires a little math; here’s the rundown:

1. First, the system will spend $4 million more this year than it will take in — that has to be made up next year;
2. Next, the system will face increased expenses next year of $1+ million from employee step increases, higher health insurance costs, etc.;
3. Next, the system has to consider that the tax digest may go down again next year by 3-4 percent, which is another $1 million; (that number isn’t known for sure when the system sets its budget in June so officials have to guess what will happen in the fall with the digest.)
4. Finally, the system needs to add back to its reserves next year about $1 million because those reserves have dropped to only $2 million. (The reserves should be in the $10-$13 million range based on state guidelines for the size of the JCCS budget.)

Add all of that together and the bottom line is that the JCSS needs to find a way to cut $6-$7 million in spending starting July 1 for next year.
Q. Are officials going to raise taxes?

A. Doubtful. At a recent meeting, the BOE consensus on that issue was that it would only raise taxes as an emergency or as a last resort. It could happen, but only if it can’t find a way to balance the budget through other options. Right now, it still has some other options on the table.

Q. The school consolidation proposal will only save $1 million; so how will the system cut other expenses?

A. True, the consolidation won’t solve the problem alone. But you also have to consider that it won’t just save $1 million one time, it will be $1 million saved every year and over 3-5 years, will add up. Although the BOE hasn’t made a decision on what it will do, it really has only two ways it can cut expenses in addition to the facilities. First, it can add more furlough days by shortening the school calendar. Teachers and administrators don’t get paid for those days and that saves about $250,000 for every furlough day. The other option is to layoff teachers by increasing class size. Every teacher laid off saves the system about $70,000 counting benefits, etc. So if the system laid off 20 teachers, it would save $1.4 million.

Q. Why does the system have to cut pay or have layoffs? Can’t it cut somewhere else instead?

A. About 90 percent of any school system’s spending is in personnel — salaries, benefits, etc. The rest is overhead. The system can’t stop paying its light bill, or buying diesel for buses or paying for other essential items. So cuts have to come out of personnel, either through less pay or laying off employees.

Q. So what will happen?

A. I don’t have a crystal ball and the BOE hasn’t indicated its thinking. What the board decides to do on facilities consolidation will make a big difference, however. Without that piece, it will have to find $1 million somewhere else and that would probably come from teacher layoffs. Based on what I see and from over 30 years of covering school systems, there are three basic scenarios (using round numbers):

Scenario 1
• Adopt the consolidation plan saving $1 million.
• Cut the calendar by 20 days to a 160 day year, in effect having 20 furlough days for system employees and saving $5 million.
• Continued absorption saving $500,000
Total savings = $6.5 million

Assumption: there are 400 teachers and admins in the Jackson County School System.

If a 10% reduction in pay across the board was enacted for 3 years running. This would eliminate the need for building closures(parents would be happy), no furlough days (children could be educated) and property taxes could stay where they are.

All teachers and admins would still have their jobs. The BMWs may have to be traded in for Scions, but hey, we all have to sacrifice somewhere. The teachers could then plan their financial future without the constant uncertainty of furlough days or layoffs.

Ok, I realize you might think the job of a school system employee is high and glamorous, but I assure you for 99 percent of anyone driving a bmw is paying that payment from their spouses salary, not their school one. Besides, after rises in the costs of insurance and raise freezes, most of those still with a job are bringing home about the same amount or less than they were 6 years ago. Keep in mind that a cut in school system wages hurts the county economy as well. I believe I've seen mention in this paper that the system is the largest single employer in the county. You cut wages 10 percent, and there is 10 percent less to be spent in the community.

The median income in Jackson County is $40,349 so don't give me the off the husbands money. The low end teacher makes close to or over what the average Jackson County 2 person Family Makes a year for 12 months work.

According to this paper in January of 2012, $43.5 million was spent this year on salaries. A ten percent reduction in those would easily erase the shortfall. No more furloughs, children in school everyday getting educated and no property tax to burden the already stretched nongovernment working individuals. Win/Win for everybody.

I want to live where you live. Where I live, you can't afford a BMW if you make $40,000 a year. Well, maybe you could if you live in it too. By the way, most teachers I know do work 12 months a year. Just because they aren't teaching a class doesn't mean they're not working.

The 4 day work week should be looked at. The way to do it and save money is to close the whole system either on monday or Friday. This way you do not heat or cool or turn on lights or run buses. On the 4 working days you extend the day long enough to keep from cutting anyones pay. So you would be saving 250,000 a day that would save about 4-5 million right there.

This is one of the most Top Heavy counties in the area. Way too many administrators! Cut from the top! Cut coaching salaries which are some of the highest in the area! Cut 12month employees to 10 months.

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